Person in History Woodrow Wilson

¶ … Person in History

Woodrow Wilson

For most people, Woodrow Wilson is yet another American president, whose only contribution to history is the fact that he was in charge of devising the U.S.'s foreign policy agenda during the First World War. In spite that his strategy was employed by a series of presidents following him, his memory is still ignored by most. His participation in the war was however more important than some might think, given that he was the first U.S. president to get his country actively involved in a war that did not concern it directly. The 28th American President would have certainly been glad if he lived to see the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, and the international affairs being discussed there.

While the U.S. did not probably came to be the country Wilson wanted it to, his idea regarding a body that would support democracy and human rights materialized in the United Nations Organization. President Wilson's determination to prevent another world war from happening was perfectly exemplified through his Fourteen Points speech he held on January 8, 1918. During this speech, he emphasized essential values, such as equality in rights for everyone, and the fact that freedom needed to be present across the globe.

Most of the contemporary international public is either unaware of who Woodrow Wilson was or thinks of him as a man whose ideals proved to be failures. Indeed, the League of Nations did not succeed in achieving its purpose, given that the Axis Powers managed to emerge in Europe with little to no restraint from members of the League. President Wilson actually believed that the League of Nations would actually make certain a continuing global peace consequent to his time. One can partly attribute the fact that the League of Nations did not manage to control conditions in Europe to Wilson's demise, considering that his loss of influence led to a 1920s international organization that did not involve the U.S.

Wilson favored a somewhat idealistic strategy that would benefit international affairs. His optimistic view regarding international relations came to be known as Wilsonianism. Even though most of the international public is not acquainted with the term or with the man that is responsible for its creation, present day international affairs are largely owed to Wilson's efforts.

It would certainly be an adventure for Woodrow Wilson to be able to see his dream realized, to drive through the Turtle Bay neighborhood toward the United Nations complex, to stand next to colleagues from diverse nations, shaking their hand, and addressing the world from this location. His political and oratory abilities would certainly be welcomed by an international public, just as he would be thrilled to put what he learnt across his life to practice.

Present day international affairs are done to a level much greater than Wilson wanted them to, making it especially intriguing for him to examine them and to cooperate with a professional team in looking over the world's problems and finding solutions to them. Although Wilson supported the concept of intervening in the affairs of other countries when democracy seemed to be threatened in these territories, he also supported the theory of self-governing, insisting that each country should be allowed to govern itself as it wishes, with international intervention being limited to preserving freedom, instead of forcing people to act against their will.

Woodrow Wilson's plans to see an international committee preserving peace failed to the highest degree during the years in which the League of Nations functioned. Not only did the organization fail in preserving peace, but in some cases it actually expressed indifference to conditions involving an oppressing country and one being oppressed. Woodrow Wilson's plans may not have materialized in the League of Nations, but his efforts brought great benefits to mankind later on. The influence of his principles was felt many years after his death, as it is even felt in the present. Woodrow Wilson managed to open the eyes of the international public, showing it that the majority of people from around the world had been oppressed and that something needed to be done in order to stop this. Not only did Wilson's intervention save millions of people at the time of the First World War, but it continued to save people to this day (and it is very probable to save lives in the future). "More lives have been saved by the League than were lost in World War I and so far in World War II," says SurgeonCommander Best, chief of Canada's wartime medical staff "(Cranston 445). Wilson shaped the New World's foreign policy and made the Old World less reluctant to adopt innovative policies, particularly when these strategies involved freedom and rights for all.